Blue Streak
by TazTaz-chan
Summary: A case of mistaken identity and a little bit of blue set off a chain of events that leads to a rather unusual relationship.  Bluetara Zutara Blue Spirit x Katara
1. Chapter 1: Mistaken Identity

Because there are not, nor will there ever be, enough Bluetaras out there.

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****Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Avatar.

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Blue Streak

Blue Spirit** x** Katara

Bluetara

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Chapter 1

Mistaken Identity

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Someone – or, as the case may have been, some_thing_, for certainly at first glance this figure did not seem human – shifted slightly on the thick branch. It had been perched there for some time now, and although staying completely still was all well and good for remaining inconspicuous, it became rather difficult after a while. He – for indeed it was male – shifted again, wishing it were possible to control more of one's internal goings on; both of his legs were falling asleep. At this point, things were beginning to seem rather pointless. He'd been out here for _hours_, and it was looking like all that waiting was to be in vain. 

The figure was just rising from the crouch he had landed in when there was the distant crunch of claws in the dirt. It seemed that, perhaps, his wait had not been in vain.

About three minutes, two knocked out guards, a torn open carriage roof, and a quick run later, the man in the blue mask was on his way back to the town, a chest under one arm and another crime on his conscience.

Not too far off, a small party of people (and animals) that the man in the blue mask would have been _very_ interested to know the whereabouts of were just setting down in a clearing not too far from the road.

"_Five _minutes, Katara."

"I _know_, Sokka. I may be younger then you, but I'm not a child. You don't have to babysit me."

"You may not be a child, but you're my baby sister, and I'm your big brother. It's my _job _to take care of you."

"…Whatever. Just stop fussing. I can take care of myself." Katara hopped down from Appa, glad to be able to stretch her legs. "I'm going to go look for some water. We're starting to run out." Thus announced, she turned to go and headed off towards where she thought she might have seen some water from above.

"Well… okay." Sokka said reluctantly, as though any objection he might have had would have stopped her. "But don't go too far!" he called after her. His sister raised her hand and waved back at him to indicate that she had heard.

Half an hour later, Katara was frustrated, irritated, worried, embarrassed, and very, _very_ lost. Even though she would never, ever admit it, she should have listened to her brother, and she knew it. "Stupid!" She kicked a nearby tree, and the results were as expected; she immediately began hopping about on one foot, clutching the other.

Once she was again able to stand on both feet, she looked around, hoping no one had seen her, even if someone being there to see her meant there was someone there to ask directions of. When it seemed the coast was clear, Katara continued on her way, daring to hope that some landmark would suddenly become apparent, or perhaps that she would randomly stumble upon Appa and her brother. It seemed today was not her lucky day. Or, perhaps, today she was more lucky than she thought….

By now, the man in the blue mask had slowed to a walk, practically strolling down the path. Of course, it wouldn't do at all to be seen in that mask, as it was on half the wanted posters in the area, but there was no one around to see him. Besides, something in the back of his mind was nagging at him. Perhaps it was guilt, or perhaps it was a fear of being discovered for who he really was. Whatever it happened to be, it was easier to ignore when his face was covered with a mask; there was no one to call him by name and rebuke him for his actions, no way for anyone to effectively track him down without knowing his true face.

Whatever the reason was, The Blue Spirit decided to remain The Blue Spirit. At least for now.

The Blue Spirit nearly dropped his prize when footsteps came up the path. In a very ungraceful scramble, the man in the blue mask rocketed up a tree and, panting a little from the sudden shock and quick reaction, parted the leaves carefully and looked down at the path he had just been on. His ears had not betrayed him; the guards he'd knocked out earlier were coming down the road. He'd been expecting them to be out of commission longer…. That was what he got for taking things easy. Well, all he'd have to do was wait there and hope neither of them decided to look up.

But of course, nothing was ever that simple.

As for our heroine, it seemed her luck was finally beginning to come back to her. She stumbled out onto a path and could have kissed the beaten ground; at last, something that lead to civilization! She could have jumped for joy, especially as she turned to see two men coming up the road. Maybe they could help her find her way to a town or something. With any luck, her brother would look for her there. However, just as the waterbender was about to call out to the men, they stopped of their own accord. They spoke in hushed voices, sending Katara surreptitious looks that quickly dampened her spirits. From where she was, she could not hear a word of the conversation… but the man in the tree could.

The instant the two men stopped, the man in the tree's heartbeat sped up. Did they know he was there? Were they looking for him? They began to converse and, although their voices were quiet, he could just make out what they were saying; his senses had sharpened in his tense state, fight or flee response kicking in.

"Hey, see that?" one man whispered to the other.

"Yeah…. Blue. The only thing I saw before we got knocked out was something blue…."

"Me too…."

"You think…?" The two paused for a moment, considering this. It was embarrassing, the idea of being snuck up on and taken out by a little girl, and yet, who around here wore blue? Green was the fashion, the norm, the reality. Who else could it have been?

"…."

"…."

"Well…" one guard began, slightly uncertain. "...we won't get paid unless we catch whoever did it. And who else could it have been?"

"Yeah…." The other nodded, and they seemed to come to an agreement.

But who were they talking about? There was no one arou-

The man in the tree looked in the direction the men were purposefully heading. There was someone else on the path…. There were leaves obscuring his view, but there was definitely someone there; he could see their feet sticking out from under the leaves. And whoever they were, they were getting blamed for what he'd done.

But what did he care? Whoever it was was no doubt just some peasant and, innocent though they were, their fate was not his problem, even if it was his fault.

Katara shifted back into a familiar stance as the two guards approached, obviously looking to pick a fight. She had no idea what they wanted with her, but she was prepared to defend herself by any means necessary. Aang was still in jail and Sokka was still waiting for her, and she would die before letting either of them down. She flipped open her water skin and reached out for the familiar feel of the water, bending it to her will. It was then that she remembered that she was almost out of water. In her distress she had forgotten the entire purpose of her expedition. Well, what little there was would have to do….

What in all of the four nations was taking them so long? The sounds of fighting had been going for a while, and although the fighting had moved to a little ways into the forest, the man in the blue mask was not willing to risk making a run for it yet. He had been reckless enough for one day. He'd have thought two healthy guards would have been able to take down some mere peasant by now. The guilt that had been slowly growing in the back of his mind was replaced by curiosity. Surely someone that could hold their own against two trained fighters was no ordinary peasant….

The man in the blue mask carefully hopped a few branches over to look down into the small clearing in which the fight was taking place. What he saw only served to feed the twinge of guilt and turn it into a full on twist like a knife in the gut.

Katara, by now, was having a rather unpleasant time. She'd have even less water to start with than she'd realized, and it was already worn down to just a few drops. Or rather, make that nothing; she watched in mounting panic as the last few drops absorbed into the thirsty earth. Really, it was a miracle that she had lasted so long with so little to use as a weapon. Backed up against a tree, she knew she was done for. And the worst part was, so did they.

The Blue Spirit felt all his muscles tense as the two guards moved in. Two able-bodied men against a defenseless teenage girl? He had no idea how she'd managed to evade capture so long. He couldn't see who it was; all that he could see from his perch was long, brown hair in a braid that, had he actually thought about it, would have been very familiar. But whoever they were, they needed help. So, out of the kindness of his heart, and most decidedly not because of that horrible, unfamiliar twist of guilt in his stomach, The Blue Spirit decided to help the poor, defenseless peasant girl out.

Katara pressed her back against the rough bark of the tree, instinctively trying to get as far away from her attackers as possible, although she knew it would do no good. She had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and nothing to use as a weapon. It looked like this might be it. It looked like Aang would be stuck in prison forever, and Sokka would never know what happened to his precious baby sister. But all of a sudden, things looked black, in a non-metaphorical sense.

Katara looked up at the stranger that had dropped out of nowhere, landing in a crouch on the ground before her and rising to his feet, pulling two swords out of one sheath on his back with a practiced grace that was enough to make any number of teenage girls you could name swoon. The particular teenage girl involved (who was, tragically, too distressed to react properly to such things) could not see her savior's face; it was turned to watch her former assailants.

Said aggressors were not looking so aggressive now. This strange creature, this blue spirit, this scowling demon, had dropped out of thin air and now stood there as if tensed to spring, totally unafraid of facing two grown men on his own. And, with synchronized expressions of shock and fear, both guards realized as if with one mind that this thing, this man, this creature, this_ demon_, was the one that had taken them down so easily, and seemed perfectly capable of doing it as many times as necessary. Their reaction was what one might have expected from decently trained but underpaid grunts; they turned tail and ran.

The Blue Spirit straightened and, once the guards were out of sight, sheathed his twin weapons in a smooth motion and turned to go, but something stopped him and he almost stumbled. That something was a soft, "Excuse me…."

He half turned, and immediately stumbled back a bit. This girl, the helpless peasant, was… was….

He'd saved the Avatar's best friend.

Oh, heaven above.

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Right. Well. I'm trying very hard to keep people in character as well as make the story interesting, and thought there hasn't been much opportunity to explore the characters' personalities yet, I want very badly to hear from you all in the future. Any comments, pleasant or unpleasant, are welcome. 

EDIT: As you may or may not have gathered, the story starts during Book 2 Chapter 5, when Aang is stuck in jail. Sokka and Katara got turned around (ended up going inland for a while until they realized what was wrong and turned around) and stopped for a little bit for Appa to rest on the way to Kyoshi Island. I apologize for any confusion caused by my failure to expain that properly.

Songs Listened to During Writing: "Unlovable", "I Bruise Easily". I do not own either of these.


	2. Chapter 2: Revealing Facade

Back again with more Bluetara for y'all. Once again, feedback is GREATLY appreciated.

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Chapter 2:

Revealing Façade

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Katara suppressed a scream as her savior's face came into view. She'd been saved by some kind of… of _monster_. The waterbender clamped her hands over her mouth to stifle the noise just in time. The creature seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see it. It stumbled back a little bit, almost as if it had not realized that she was there.

Now that she got the chance to look at it, it became clear that that grotesque blue and white face was nothing but a mask. This, of course, was very comforting; it seemed less likely that she might become something's dinner. Of course, there were always cannibals, and you never knew with people in masks….

But the man did not seem to have any intention of sticking around. Not even waiting for her to thank him, the man turned around and ran off into the woods at such as speed that, even if he had not had the few seconds it took for Katara to recover from the shock of such a face as a head start, she never would have been able to catch up with him. Nevertheless, the girl called after the retreating man. "Hey, wait! I NEVER EVEN GOT THE CHANCE TO THANK YOU!" The girl cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound, but the man in the blue mask was already far out of ear shot. "Huh…. I guess he's shy."

"KATARAAAAA!" Katara started at the sound of someone calling her name. It came again, this time a little closer. There was only one person it could have been….

"SOKKA! I'M OVER HERE!"

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"Hnh…."

A grotesque blue mask was nestled in the grass right beside a rather large stream that had just recently been partially responsible for several mishaps. A young man, a teenager by the look of him, splashed just a little more water on his face, just to make sure he was awake. The man – or perhaps you could still call him a boy; he was at that in-between stage – sat back, a few last drops of cool, fresh water sliding down his thin face and dropping onto his dark clothes.

"I can _not_ believe that just happened." he muttered to himself. Of all the days to decide to help someone out, of all the times to succumb to his guilt, of all the _people_, it had to be today, it had to be that time, and it had to be _her_.

The very last straggling drop of water on Zuko's face dissolved into steam. Just a second or two later, its peers that had reached the dark cloth below met the same fate. Such a mixture of embarrassment and irritation….

The grass was the next to go; it caught fire the second he realized that he _really_ should have followed her to the Avatar.

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A few minutes and a lengthy lecture later, Katara found herself staring down at the ground, half wishing (even though she knew it was futile) to spot just the tiniest speck of blue somewhere down there amongst the trees. She hadn't even gotten to thank him for saving her….

Well, she'd just have to hope they ran into each other somewhere else, wouldn't she? After all, they DID travel around quite a bit; she doubted if there was going to be anywhere they hadn't been before this was over. They would meet again, she just knew it. And then she could thank him properly.

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I apologize that this chapter was so short, but it just seemed appropriate to end it there. ONWARDS!

Song(s) Listened to During Writing: "Play With Fire", which I do not own, just as I do not own Avatar in any way, shape, or form.


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